154 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 



beekeepers, many of whom following 

 the lead of Quinby, adopted the Lang- 

 stroth principle of the movable 

 combs, but used a deeper frame to 

 conform more nearly to the then 

 prevalent idea as to the proper shape 

 for a beehive. Quinby's first modifi- 

 cation of the Langstroth hive was 12 

 xl2^xl9j4 in., inside measure, and 

 contained eight frames, each 18^ in. 

 long and 11J4 in- deep. This gives a 

 cubic capacity within the frames 

 slightly greater than the Quinby box- 

 hive. The American frame was orig- 

 inally 1254 in. wide and 16 in. or more 

 deep, thus making a hive more nearly 

 the shape of the conventional box- 

 hives, but was afterwards changed to 

 12x12 in. The Gallup frame was ll%x 

 11^ in., thus fitting the Quinby hive 

 when the frames are placed crosswise 

 in the brood-chamber. The Adair 

 frame was 1354x11^ in., thus using 

 the Quinby depth, the length being 

 such that it would fit a Langstroth 

 hive if placed crosswise in the brood- 

 chamber. 



These deeper frames were not well 

 adapted to box-honey production 

 when the Langstroth principle of top 

 storing was used; therefore, some 

 who favored the deep frames ar- 

 ranged their hives for side storing, 

 placing the bo.xes within the same 

 apartment with the brood-combs and 

 arranged on each side of the brood. 

 This, however, did not prove entirely 

 satisfactory and the Langstroth 

 frame and hive in connection with 

 top storing was championed by many 

 producers of box-honey. 



The First Extracted Honey Era, 

 1867 to 1876 



The honey extractor was invented 

 in 1865, but was first heard of in this 

 country in 1867. Many crude home- 

 made machines were built by bee- 

 keepers at once, and the use of the 

 honey extractor was taken up with 

 great enthusiasm. In their zeal in the 

 use of this new implement bee- 



keepers extracted at frequent inter- 

 vals during the honey flow, taking all 

 the honey from the brood-chamber 

 as well as from the combs in an upper 

 story. The difficulty of removing the 

 brood-combs for extracting, when a 

 two-story hive was used, and when 

 the extracting process was repeated 

 every few days, suggested at once 

 the advantage of having all the 

 frames in a single hive-body; thus 

 making all the combs readily accessi- 

 ble when the cover is removed. This 

 gave the advocates of the deeper 

 frame their opportunity, since in ex- 

 tracted honey production it was no 

 longer necessary to use a shallow 

 brood-chamber, as in box-honey pro- 

 duction. Even Langstroth seriously 

 considered changing his frame to a 

 deeper one. 



On this subject he wrote, in a letter 

 to A. I. Root, on April 4, 1872, as fol- 

 lows : "Dear Friend: I hope you 

 will try the 12x12 in., but I have many 

 years ago tried such frames and do 

 not like them — too much cost to make 

 and handle, etc. I think the hive 14x 

 14x13 in. deep much better and shall 

 probably adopt that shape, as the 

 honey emptier '(note honey Extrac- 

 tor)' and side boxes make it no 

 longer so desirable to have a shallow 

 hive." The next day, April 5, he 

 wrote: "You will see from my last 

 that I propose to change the dimen- 

 sions of my frame. Perhaps there will 

 not be much choice between the hive 

 14x14x13 in. and 12x12x12 in., but I pre- 

 fer ten frames to twelve." — Gleanings 

 in Bee Culture, Vol. 2, p. 58). 



At this time Adair began strenu- 

 ously to advocate a hive which he 

 called the New Era Hive, and which 

 later was known as the Long Idea 

 Hive. This hive was arranged for the 

 brood-combs and extracting-combs in 

 the same apartment, and in some 

 cases frames were added until the 

 hive was 4 feet long. Two years later 

 A. I. Root, who previous to this time 

 had been a consistent advocate of the 



Apiary of box hives. Tlit way all bees were kept in Ihe old days. 



Langstroth frame, proposed a stand- 

 ard hive built on the long idea princi- 

 ple to hold 20 Adair frames. This was 

 known as the Standard. The long 

 controversy on the hive question was 

 now thought to have been finished 

 and the question finally settled for all 

 time. Furthermore, the use of such 

 a hive in connection with frequenf 

 and close extracting practically 

 solved the swarming problem. How- 

 ever, the standardization of the bee- 

 hive and beekeeping practice was not 

 to be accomplished so soon, for an- 

 other great invention appeared on 

 the beekeeping horizon, ushering in 

 a new era in beekeeping, upsetting 

 the established system of manage- 

 ment and clianging tlie destiny of 

 hive construction. I refer to the in- 

 vention of comb-foundation and the 

 ushering in of the comb-honey era. 



Comb-Honey Era, 1876 to 1906 



Impressed sheets of beeswax, mak- 

 ing a crude fqundation without side 

 walls had been used in Europe since 

 1857. In this country Samuel Wagner, 

 founder of the American Bee Journal, 

 experimented in making embossed 

 sheets of beeswax and in 1861 secured 

 a patent on such embossed sheets. 

 After some delays incident to the 

 Civil War and the reconstruction peri- 

 od, he entirely abandoned the project. 

 Several attempts were made to build 

 machines to stamp the wax sheets by 

 various persons, and finally, in 1874 

 and 1875, samples of foundation which 

 proved to be readily acceptable by 

 the bees, were sent out to beekeepers 

 by "John Long." 



In 1875 A. I. Root, with character- 

 istic enthusiasm and energy, began 

 his experiments in making foundation. 

 At first he built up plates to emboss 

 the wax sheets, making the plates by 

 assembling "type" which he moulded, 

 each type having the upper face mod- 

 eled after the base of the cell. These 

 types were soldered together in such 

 a manner that they formed a solid 

 plate, two of which were used to im- 

 press the wax sheets. He also, during 

 the same winter, worked on a roll ma- 

 chine, the first of which was finished 

 at Medina, Ohio, on February 26, 1876. 

 During that year 100 pounds of comb- 

 foundation were sent out from Me- 

 dina to beekeepers throughout the 

 country for experimental purposes. 



The enthusiasm with which this 

 new product was received and tried 

 out gave a new impetus to comb- 

 honey production. Instead of several 

 combs in a box, as in the box-honey 

 era, comb honey was at 'this time pro- 

 duced in single comb boxes and sheets 

 of comb-foundation were used to 

 guide the work of the bees. In regard 

 to the efl'cct of the invention of comb- 

 foundation upon the construction of 

 the beehive, A. I. Root wrote as fol- 

 lows: "Our friend Dean said a few 

 days ago that if he were going to 

 raise comb honey he would unhesi- 

 tatingly adopt the shallow Langstroth 

 frame, although he has been one of 

 the strongest advocates of the Gallup 

 frame. Just what effect the artificial 

 bleached wax-comb is going to have 

 on the shape of the hives, we are un- 



